ABSTRACT
This chapter looks into the relative explanatory power of international systemic and domestic institutional determinants in the post-Cold War era from 1993 to 1998. Compared to nordpolitik, the South's economic engagement policy is different in that it would provide economic aid to facilitate the North's entry into the world economy. Increased trade and economic interactions were influential in dissolving Cold War animosity against the former communist countries. The chapter evaluates theoretical causal claims proposed by international structuralism and domestic institutionalism. The systemic constraints of geo-structural factors have had a decisive impact on South Korea's security policy dynamics. A factor that changed the basic characteristics of regional alliance formation was the change of the US-extended deterrence provided to South Korea. Finally, the chapter summarizes critical determinants of security policy change in the post-Cold War period and assesses the institutional capacity of South Korea's security policy-making institutions.
